Featured Research

Pig brain models provide insights into human cognitive development

Date:

March 14, 2013

Source:

University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Summary:

A mutual curiosity about patterns of growth and development in pig brains has brought two research groups together. Animal scientists have now developed a model of the pig brain that they plan to use to answer important questions about human brain development.

Share This

A mutual curiosity about patterns of growth and development in pig brains has brought two University of Illinois research groups together. Animal scientists Rod Johnson and Ryan Dilger have developed a model of the pig brain that they plan to use to answer important questions about human brain development.

Related Articles

"It is important to characterize the normal brain growth trajectory from the neonatal period to sexual maturity," said Johnson.

"Until we know how the brain grows, we don't know what is going to change," added Dilger.

In cooperation with the Beckman Institute, they performed MRI scans on the brains of 16 piglets, starting at the age of 2 weeks, then at 4 weeks, and then at 4-week intervals up to 24 weeks.

"We have world-class people at the Beckman Institute who are pushing and developing the next generation of neuroimaging technology, so we're able to connect with them and take advantage of their expertise," said Johnson.

Matt Conrad, a student in Johnson's lab, used three-dimensional visualization software on over 200 images to manually segment each region on three planes. The software put the information together into a three-dimensional image of the pig brain. This is used to determine the volume of the different structures.

When the piglets were at Beckman for their imaging sessions, Dilger performed other tests, including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which shows how neural tracks develop, allowing the exploration of brain complexity and of how neurons form. It was also possible to measure neurochemicals, including creatine and acetylcholine, in the brain, which provides a unique insight into brain metabolism.

The end result of this work is what they call the deformable pig brain atlas.

"We are taking 16 pigs and averaging them, so it's more representative of all pigs," said Dilger. "You can then apply it to any individual pig to see how it's different."

"It's called a deformable brain atlas because the software takes information from an individual and deforms it until it fits the template, and then you know how much it had to be deformed to fit," Johnson explained. "So from that, you can tell whether a brain region is larger or smaller compared to the average."

Johnson and Dilger said that the goal is to develop a tool for pigs that is equivalent to what is available for the mouse brain and make it publicly available. But they don't want to stop with tool development.

"We want to use this to address important questions," Johnson said.

One research direction being pursued in Johnson's lab is to induce viral pneumonia in piglets at the point in the post-natal period when the brain is undergoing massive growth to see how it alters brain growth and development. They are also looking at effects of prenatal infections in the mother to see if that alters the trajectory of normal brain growth in the offspring. The risk for behavioral disorders and reduced stress resilience is increased by pre- and post-natal infection, but the developmental origins are poorly understood.

Dilger's group is interested in the effects of early-life nutrition on the brain. They are looking at the effects of specific fatty acids as primary structural components of the human brain and cerebral cortex, and at choline, a nutrient that is important for DNA production and normal functioning of neurons.

"Choline deficiency has been tied to cognitive deficits in the mouse and human, and we're developing a pig model to study the direct effects choline deficiency has on brain structure and function," Dilger said. "Many women of child-bearing age may not be receiving enough choline in their diets, and recent evidence suggests this may ultimately affect learning and memory ability in their children. Luckily, choline can be found in common foods, especially eggs and meat products, including bacon."

More From ScienceDaily

More Mind & Brain News

Featured Research

Mar. 3, 2015 — Limp or firm, your handshake conveys subliminal social cues. Now, research reveals it also transmits chemical signals that could explain why the greeting evolved in the first ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Family Based Interpersonal Psychotherapy (FB-IPT) is more effective in treating preadolescent children with depression compared to child-centered therapy (CCT), a recent study has found. ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Everyone worries about losing their memory as they grow older—memory loss remains one of the most common complaints of the elderly. But the molecular reasons behind the processes remain unclear, ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — A strong link has been made between subthreshold manic episodes and likelihood of developing bipolar disorder in children of parents with bipolar disorder. The study’s findings could improve ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — A newly published study is the first to report an association between bisphenol-A (BPA), a common plasticizer used in a variety of consumer food and beverage containers, with autism spectrum disorder ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — On Feb. 26, a picture of a cocktail dress originally uploaded to the blog Tumblr swept the Internet and managed to divide the population over a simple question: What color is the dress? Some viewers ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — A deficiency in the protein responsible for moving glucose across the brain's protective blood-brain barrier appears to intensify the neurodegenerative effects of Alzheimer's disease, according to a ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — Researchers describe how postmortem brain slices can be 'read' to determine how a rat was trained to behave in response to specific sounds, a new article suggests. The work provides one of the first ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — Teenagers in North Carolina were easily able to buy electronic cigarettes online because both Internet vendors and shipping companies failed to verifying ages in a study that assessed compliance with ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — A survey of US high school students suggests that 1 in 5 female students and 1 in 10 male students who date have experienced some form of teen dating violence (TDV) during the past 12 months. "These ... full story

Related Stories

Dec. 15, 2014 — The first animal model with inherited cardiac arrhythmia -- an advance that could lead to better understanding of the biological mechanisms of normal heart conduction and rhythm -- has been developed ... full story

Nov. 5, 2014 — A new online tool will further aid studies into postnatal brain growth in human infants based on the similarities seen in the development of the piglet brain. Through a cooperative effort, ... full story

Sep. 17, 2014 — A team of Spanish researchers have obtained the first partial genome sequence of an ancient pig. Extracted from a sixteenth century pig found at the site of the Montsoriu Castle in Girona, the data ... full story

June 20, 2014 — The whole-genome sequence of Trichuris suis, a parasitic worm in pig, has been presented by an international team composed of 11 institutions from six countries. Understanding the genetics mechanisms ... full story

Oct. 17, 2013 — The pig, the jellyfish and the zebrafish have been used to gain a greater understanding of hereditary forms of diseases affecting the nervous system. In this project, the focus was on a specific gene ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.